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83 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
History of Rome, September 20, 2005
This review is from: Livy: The Early History of Rome, Books I-V (Penguin Classics) (Bks. 1-5) (Mass Market Paperback)
Titus Livius, (Livy) 59BCE-17ACE, born in Padua he was a popular and much admired writer in his day. His history was a favorite of Caesar Augustus who reigned during the time of the writing of the "History of Early Rome". His facts are not the most accurate, but like Plutarch, he believed that; "if history were not morally instructive, it was nothing." "History of Early Rome" is a valiant effort at recalling and preserving the memory of the noble deeds of the Romans. The history opens with the Trojans wandering into Rome to found a new city around 750BCE. It traces the history of Romulus the founder, the period of Roman kingship and then the Roman Republic era. Livy has a wonderful description of the "rape of the Sabine women" in which Rome's men conduct to increase their population. Wonderful telling of the life and acts of the noble and humble Cinncinatus who many of George Washington's contemporaries believed modeled himself after and held many of the same virtues. It contains an in depth look at Coriolanus, which was the source material for Shakespeare's play "Coriolanus". "Shared danger is the strongest of bonds; it will keep men united in spite of mutual dislike and suspicion."
Machiavelli loved reading Livy's histories and wrote his most important philosophical work from it, "The Discourses", in which he glorifies republican Rome as a model of good government. Thomas Jefferson wrote to his nephew that there were three books every gentleman had to have familiarity with; Plutarch's "Lives", Livy's "History of Rome" and Virgil's Aeneid. In fact, all the founding fathers of note had read Livy and learned much from his history of Rome.
If you are truly interested in obtaining a classical education, put this book on the top of your reading list! I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history.
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34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Still fresh after 2,000 years!, February 14, 2002
Titus Livius, better known as Livy, lived and wrote his famous history about 2,000 years ago, and even then the early history of Rome was ancient history. But the Romans were a people much taken with themselves and their perception of their destiny, and they were a highly literate people as well, so Livy was not without resources on which he could draw for research. Thanks to him and a handful of other Roman historians, we have a fairly detailed knowledge of this remote period, a knowledge that is constantly being expanded and refined through archaeology. Livy's history, which scholars believe was intended as a series of 120 or so volumes (of which 35 have come down to us), stands as a remarkable achievement, both literary and historical. The first five volumes, translated in the present book, cover the period from the founding of the city (traditionally dated to 753 BCE) by Romulus to the defeat of the Gauls by Marcus Furius Camillus in c. 396 BCE. It is a fascinating time in Roman history, witnessing the age of the kings, their ouster by Junius Brutus and the subsequent establishment of the Republic, ongoing class struggle between the aristocratic "Patricians" and their fellow citizens, the "Plebeians," and naturally, almost unending warfare between Rome, the new kid on the block, and its neighbors. At times the narrative can seem repetitive, what with the endless skirmishing against the Volscians, Hernici, and Latins, but Livy himself is aware of this and even makes a joke or two about it. Actually, Livy does an admirable job of holding his readers' interest in spite of the repetitive nature of his material. His highly accessible, round style of writing keeps the narrative moving along, and the characters that inhabit the text are themselves so dramatic and intriguing that they easily overcome any sluggish patches in the plot. Anyone interested in ancient Rome does themself an enormous disservice if they rely solely on modern authors for their explorations. The ancient Roman historians in general, and Livy in particular, offer us vivid accounts of this truly extraordinary place and time, artistic and historical contributions that are as exciting, interesting, surprising, suspenseful, and valuable as anything penned since.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Most Readable History, December 8, 2000
Livy was a contemporary of Augustus, Rome's first emperor. Augustus brought peace to Rome and the empire after a lengthy period of civil strife. Though Augustus brought peace by taking power from the corrupt senate and concentrating it in his own hands, it was fashionable among the senatorial class to idealize the old days when they had exercised power. In this vein, Livy wrote his monumental History of Rome with the idea of using what he saw as the old civic virtues of Rome's past as an example to inspire his decadent contemporaries. In this sense, Livy was as much a moralist as he was a historian. But, moralist or historian, he wrote very good books. His stories were probably based on tradition as much as earlier writers. And, when his sources conflicted, he simply chose one account over another. Nevertheless, his work is one of the best surviving sources for the periods he covers, and he relates events in an amusing, instructive, and dramatic manner. Not all of Livy's work has survived. What we have has been divided by this publisher into three parts. This book is the first of the three and covers the period from the founding of Rome to the time of Camillus. Included in this period are many entertaining stories: the flight of Aeneas from Troy to Italy, the founding of Rome by Romulus, the expulsion of the last king, Tarquin, from the city, Horatius defending the bridge over the Tiber, the victory of Cincinnatus, and many others. Though Livy is perhaps not the most rigorous historian, his work makes for fascinating and informative reading. Some of what he relates is clearly mythical in nature, but he was writing for a popular audience and his goal was to entertain as well as inform. After two thousand years, his work still does exactly that. Read this book. I liked it very much, and I think you will, too.
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